Nebraska Tax Reform

[BigRedBuster]

 

[BigRedBuster]

 

[BigRedBuster]

 

Hopefully the legislature has the balls to accomplish this. 

[teachercd]

What areas are considered rural?

BRB are you in a rural area?  

[BigRedBuster]

3 hours ago, teachercd said:

What areas are considered rural?

BRB are you in a rural area?  

A) not sure what they use for the rural designation. 

 

B). What ever “A” is, yes, I’m rural. 

[ZRod]

Hmm... While property taxes maybe high isn't a sales tax generally regarded as pretty regressive? I know sales tax is around 7% in Lincoln and Omaha. Much higher and the people will feel too squeezed in that regard too.

[BigRedBuster]

1 hour ago, ZRod said:

Hmm... While property taxes maybe high isn't a sales tax generally regarded as pretty regressive? I know sales tax is around 7% in Lincoln and Omaha. Much higher and the people will feel too squeezed in that regard too.

I don’t know if the sales tax is the solution. 

 

But, there needs to be a broader cross section of Nebraska that is paying more. In a prodominantly ag state, farmers and ranchers are getting slammed with this. 

[BigRedBuster]

I think this is extremely important to the state of Nebraska.

 

Quote

LINCOLN, NE – The Platte Institute will testify in support of three bills that aim to codify Nebraska’s collections of sales tax on online transactions conducted by out-of-state retailers. Legislative Bills 18, 284, and 291 will be heard before the Legislature’s Revenue Committee today in State Capitol Room 1524. The hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. and the three bills currently lead the agenda.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in South Dakota v. Wayfair that retailers did not need a physical presence in a state for states to collect sales tax on purchases made in their jurisdiction. This decision overturned a previous ruling from the 1990s that applied to catalog-based retailers.

 

[schriznoeder]

Tourism revenue. We need more tourism revenue NOW. And maybe some gambling and marijuana revenue down the road (but we'll save those discussions for another day). The new "Honestly, it's not for everyone" ad campaign is a good place to start, but we need to thinker BIGGER. For example, build that long-talked-about reservoir  on the Platte River between Omaha and Lincoln. Add in a Six Flags-style amusement park, a marina or two, and a few resort hotels, and we could easily add tens of millions of dollars to our tax base.

 

*NOTE: As a former Nebraska farm kid myself, I'm very aware of, and sympathetic towards, the whole land acquisition and eminent domain issue. But projects like this happen all around the country, so there's almost always an amicable agreement to be had.

[funhusker]

8 minutes ago, schriznoeder said:

Tourism revenue. We need more tourism revenue NOW. And maybe some gambling and marijuana revenue down the road (but we'll save those discussions for another day). The new "Honestly, it's not for everyone" ad campaign is a good place to start, but we need to thinker BIGGER. For example, build that long-talked-about reservoir  on the Platte River between Omaha and Lincoln. Add in a Six Flags-style amusement park, a marina or two, and a few resort hotels, and we could easily add tens of millions of dollars to our tax base.

 

*NOTE: As a former Nebraska farm kid myself, I'm very aware of, and sympathetic towards, the whole land acquisition and eminent domain issue. But projects like this happen all around the country, so there's almost always an amicable agreement to be had.

As a resident of west Omaha and an appreciator(sp?) of marine recreation, I approve of this plan.

[BigRedBuster]

19 minutes ago, schriznoeder said:

Tourism revenue. We need more tourism revenue NOW. And maybe some gambling and marijuana revenue down the road (but we'll save those discussions for another day). The new "Honestly, it's not for everyone" ad campaign is a good place to start, but we need to thinker BIGGER. For example, build that long-talked-about reservoir  on the Platte River between Omaha and Lincoln. Add in a Six Flags-style amusement park, a marina or two, and a few resort hotels, and we could easily add tens of millions of dollars to our tax base.

 

*NOTE: As a former Nebraska farm kid myself, I'm very aware of, and sympathetic towards, the whole land acquisition and eminent domain issue. But projects like this happen all around the country, so there's almost always an amicable agreement to be had.

 

I love Nebraska and greatly enjoy the entertainment opportunities the state has to offer.  However, tourism is NEVER going to be our answer to state financing.  Colorado passed legal marijuana claiming it was going to fund their schools, roads...etc.  They still don't have any money to do anything.  

[schriznoeder]

8 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

I love Nebraska and greatly enjoy the entertainment opportunities the state has to offer.  However, tourism is NEVER going to be our answer to state financing.  Colorado passed legal marijuana claiming it was going to fund their schools, roads...etc.  They still don't have any money to do anything.  

 

I'm definitely not an economics expert, so maybe I'm looking at things in an over- simplified way. But tourism brings new revenue into the system. Decreasing property taxes but increasing/broadening sales tax doesn't do that - it simply shifts the tax revenue from one stream to another.  So on one hand, I might have more money to spend because my property taxes are lower, but I have to turn around and spend more money to buy the goods and services I need on a daily basis. 

[BigRedBuster]

23 minutes ago, schriznoeder said:

 

I'm definitely not an economics expert, so maybe I'm looking at things in an over- simplified way. But tourism brings new revenue into the system. Decreasing property taxes but increasing/broadening sales tax doesn't do that - it simply shifts the tax revenue from one stream to another.  So on one hand, I might have more money to spend because my property taxes are lower, but I have to turn around and spend more money to buy the goods and services I need on a daily basis. 

 

The transition away from relying heavily on property taxes in Nebraska is needed.  If we were in a state where the majority of the land is owned by lots of people in small plots, it would be different.  BUT....instead, we have a situation where we have a small population with a large amount of land, which is owned by a small amount of the population.  The industry that the land is used in, isn't like oil, gas or coal where there's huge amounts of profit/revenue to pay large amounts or taxes.  So, we have a large amount of the tax burden on agriculture.  That tax burden needs to be leveled out to other members of the population.  

 

I'm open to lots of ideas on how to make that happen.  I'm also of the belief that companies selling retail into the state, should be collecting and paying sales tax.

 

And, I might add.  Because of this over burden on farm land, it's next to impossible to raise taxes to meet the demands of the state.

[BigRedBuster]

I think this is a symptom of the problem.  From the OWH article in a tweet above.

 

Quote

Tax-savvy Nebraskans often cite the Tax Foundation’s rankings for the state’s high property tax burden. When measured by effective tax rates on primary residences, Nebraska’s property taxes are seventh highest nationally, while the state is middle of the pack (24th) in overall tax structure.

 

On top of that, we have a balanced budget amendment.  Now, in theory, I agree with that amendment and support it.  But, it causes other problems in doing what the state needs to do.  If we are 24th in overall tax structure, while being 7th highest in property taxes...well.....something needs adjusted.

[RavHuskr]

2 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

I love Nebraska and greatly enjoy the entertainment opportunities the state has to offer.  However, tourism is NEVER going to be our answer to state financing.  Colorado passed legal marijuana claiming it was going to fund their schools, roads...etc.  They still don't have any money to do anything.  

This isn't the entire reason.  Colorado has TABOR that restricts the state from keeping excess money and has to refund it to the people.  This usually amounts to like $20 a person.

  Secondly the voters consistently vote down public works projects or school funding and the legislature can never come up with a bill everyone can agree on.  So there is money there but gets put into pet projects instead of tangible ones. 

Lastly you decriminalize marijuana and besides the tax gain from this there would be less incarcerated individuals which also helps the state budget especially if it was legalized.